Terracotta Food Cover

Alfresco dining has long been under siege by dastardly foe; the pesky housefly! This army of nasties seem to appear almost as if out of thin air the second food appears on the scene. Their sole objective is to get their tiny, dirty feet on as much of your food as possible before you get a chance to actually eat it. Gross!

I was recently found myself under attack while brunching at my favourite local cafe. The battalion of flies that I was dealing with were obviously some kind of special ops unit, because they were not in the least bit bothered by my angry swatting and cursing.  With my efforts, by and large, ineffective, I was just about to give in and call it a day, when suddenly, my savior appeared.

This wasn’t your typical hero from the story books, He wore no shiny armor and held no sword. Instead a checkered shirt with the sleeves rolled up.  On his face sat a thick pair of glasses, (which I’m fairly sure were not prescription) and on his lip resided a thin, carefully groomed shadow of a mustache. But he brandished before him the most brilliant weapon I had ever seen;  a food cover made from a terracotta pot!

Obviously, I had to make one myself. It really is so simple!  Because terracotta is a poor conductor of heat/cold, it effectively retains the heat of hot dishes, or keeps cold dishes, moist and cool. It’s was one of those moments where you see a great idea and think ‘now, why didn’t I think of that?!’  Not only will you have a  pretty addition to your table top, but it’s also super functional! Trust a hipster to come up with something so brilliantly left of field!

What You Need:

A Brand New Terracotta
Thick, Cotton Rope

What You Do:

1.  Wash that pot. I know it’s brand new, but scrub the crap out of that thing! No seriously. Do you want dirt in your food? I didn’t think so. Unsealed terracotta is extremely absorbent, so wash it it soap and hot water and rinse repeatedly. (Fun fact; the soap suds will continue to ‘appear’ on the pot after you wash it. Keep rinsing every few minutes until they subside - OR tell everyone you’re conjuring them with your mind and convince people you’re magic…) Allow to dry completely before proceeding to the next step.

2. Take a length of thick cotton rope, around 30 - 40cm long. You want it to be able to fit snugly in the drainage hole of the pot. Thread the rope through and tie a large, strong knot into the end on the inside of the pot. Trim away any excess.

3. Pull the rope back through the hole from the outside until the knot sits flush against the inside. measure out around a palm width from the base of the pot and knot the other end of the rope securely.

4. Trim  away any access rope until you have around 5cm left. Gently un-braid the rope down to the knot leaving a tassel on the end of your handle.

5. Pop the ‘cover’ over the top of your favourite dip, cheese or meal and use the the rope handle to lift it up when you want to access your food. Laugh with joy as flies bump aimlessly into the sides, unable to dirty up your snacks. Suckers.